Boiled sweets such as toffee etc.

[RossClement]

In a fit of optimism, I've bought another sugar thermometer. (The last one I had got broken).

I've just tried making a chewy caramel recipe. It didn't quite turn out. The sugar solution was a bit shallow in the pan. As I moved the thermometer around, the temps weren't equal all the way around. And it looks like the marg. has separated out. And bits remaining in the pan went quite hard and looked "unattractive" when I put them into cold water to check what the main lot would be when it cools down.

But actually it tasted quite nice. So I'm not sure if this is a good result or not.

Has anyone got any tips/hints/recipes?

[Mr Flibble]

This site is the best I've seen:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/index.html

It's got videos and stuff for different stages.

[emmapresley]

that's great cos my pecan pralines were just pants..it ended up like bitty.sort of like softer kendal mint cake..but obviously not minty..pecany..i ought to get a sugar themometer..:confused:..ross clement..if you hit on a winning recipe for your creations, be sure to post??

[RossClement]

The problem with a lot of sweet recipes online is that they use corn syrup. That's harder to come by in the UK.

[Ruby Rose]

Can't we just substitute golden syrup - isn't that pretty much the same thing chemically?

[vava]

The problem with a lot of sweet recipes online is that they use corn syrup. That's harder to come by in the UK.

got mine from my local asian food shop.

[RossClement]

Today I just tried boiling up a very basic toffee recipe (sugar, water, pinch cream of tarter). I boiled it until it until the thermometer was saying "firm ball", but the cold water test was suggesting a temp getting on more towards soft crack. I've solidified some of the result. It's sort of like hard fruit sweets (like the Co-op ones), but without flavouring it, the "candy" tastes like candy floss. As I didn't cook it until it got too hot, there was no caramelisation of the sugar to add the colour and flavour of even basic toffee. Cooled down it's hard, and can shatter. But when I eat it, it's like some toffee which initially breaks but then becomes chewy, and can really really stick to your teach such that if you try and open them it feels like the teeth might actually pull out first. But clearly that's somewhere in the "chewy candy" ballpark.

The site suggested by Mr Flibble recommended that you use both the thermometer and the cold water method at the same time. I can see why.

I'm also interested in trying the treacle "liquorice" recipe from about half way down this page: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1013916,00.html

I'll look into local Asian food suppliers to see if I can get some corn syrup.

[emmapresley]

i didn;t want to start a new thread, but thought this might fit in here??

i bought some jaggery today..has anyone used it before for making sweet stuff?

all i'm thinking s far i can use it for in a recipe wise manner, is coating nuts with :D

any ideas anyone?

[vava]

what did you do with the jaggery?